If you’re even slightly interested in natural building, earth construction, or green design, you should probably read The Rammed Earth House by David Easton. We’re giving away our copy provided by Chelsea Green, so leave a comment before midnight Friday, October 17, if you’d like to be entered for the giveaway.* Chock full of helpful and colorful photos by Cynthia Wright, The Rammed Earth House is a fantastic read. Easton and Wright founded Rammed Earth Works (REW Associates) and over the past thirty years, they’ve designed and built more than 200 residential and commercial rammed earth structures around the world. With all this experience in a form of construction that dates back to prehistoric times, Easton enunciates the case for earth building and rammed earth houses rather cleverly: they’re quiet, comfortable, sturdy, durable, timeless, natural, and locally made.

Jerry Yudelson, renown green building expert, was kind enough to send us a copy of one of his latest books, and as is the tradition on this website, we’re giving the book away to one lucky commenter below. Just leave a comment before midnight on Monday, September 22 to be considered for the giveaway.* The book is called Choosing Green: The Homebuyer’s Guide to Good Green Homes and is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. It is what it’s called: a homebuyer’s guide. If you’re a homeowner or are thinking of becoming one (even in this market!), you should give this a read and get educated. Yudelson will walk you through some of the following concepts:

So the big day is September 8, 2008 — the day Mr. Thomas Friedman’s next book goes on sale. It’s called Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–And How It Can Renew America. I have a feeling it’s going to be good, too, but I can’t pinpoint why. Maybe it’s because Friedman does a lot of research and assesses that research with a fresh perspective. Maybe it’s because he says new stuff — he’s not necessarily regurgitating what we hear everyday. Maybe it’s because he takes a strong position. Whatever it is, I have a stack of great books that I’ve been trying to get through, but this one will likely make it to the nightstand.

This is part of the Jetson Green birthday giveaway, so make sure to leave a comment by midnight Friday, July 25, 2008, if you want to be considered for the contest.*

Ever the activist, environmentalist and friend of Jetson Green, Josh Dorfman has contributed two items to be given away with this article. You’ve probably heard of Josh through his website and Sirius Satellite Radio show, The Lazy Environmentalist. He’s also the author of The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, and Green Living, which he generously autographed and provided for this giveaway. You may also know about Josh’s ventures with Modern Green Living and Vivavi, both of which we’ve mentioned previously. Vivavi has some serious green eye candy — but the one for our focus is the Ripple 3d Recycled Wallpaper.

This is part of the Jetson Green birthday giveaway, so make sure to leave a comment by midnight Friday, July 25, 2008, if you want to be considered for the contest.*

If there’s anything that I’ve learned from you the reader, it’s that you’re (1) concerned for the environment and (2) smart, engaged, demanding, and relentless in your pursuit of quality information. For that reason, I’ve decided to giveaway two books together as kind of a bundle to one commenter.* The first book is Worldchanging: A User’s Guide to the 21st Century in paperback. The forward was written by Al Gore and the rest was edited by Alex Steffen — it’s 600 pages full of legit solutions. The second book is Nature and Selected Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. What can I say about this book other than it contains over 15 classic writings that have influenced thousands and thousands of people. Both books are highly influential, both books are perfect for smart Jetson Green readers.

So Sony noticed that we do a lot of book giveaways here, and they offered to let us test run a sleek, shiny, silver Sony Reader PRS-505. What’s the green angle to a Sony Reader? We can save a lot of resources if electronic readers capture the market: paper, resources to make paper, ink, transportation, space, etc. Make sure to read Smart Planet for a thorough eco analysis of the reader, though. Anyway, being avid readers, we decided to give it a shot, because, to be entirely honest, we can’t stop reading! So I opened up the box about a month ago (yep, I’ve been using it that long to be sure about what I say below), and I was blown away. Seriously. The screen is so much like paper — I couldn’t believe it. As a result, I decided, then and there, to try to make a video so you can see what I see.